The Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the world's twenty largest economies ('G20 Finance') continued their work, on Tuesday 31 March, on a joint G20 Action Plan in Response to COVID-19 that will be attentive to the needs of least developed countries. Target: to be concluded at the IMF/World Bank Spring Meeting on 15 April.
On the basis of the mandate given by the G20 leaders (see EUROPE 12455/20), the world's major financial institutions will outline the "collective and individual actions" taken and to be taken to respond to the pandemic as well as "the needed medium-term measures to support the global economy", according to a communiqué from the Saudi Presidency.
The G20 will also address the risk of debt vulnerabilities faced by low-income countries, "allowing these countries to focus their efforts on fighting this global challenge" posed by the coronavirus.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the Fund will facilitate access to emergency assistance that 85 countries rely on. "At a time the world economy is at a standstill, official bilateral creditors could make a major contribution by offering a debt standstill to IDA-eligible countries" (countries with an annual GNI per capita below $1,175 in 2020), she added.
Prior to the meeting, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire had indicated that his country would propose "an increase in the IMF's Special Drawing Rights of $500 billion", an initiative he described as "the simplest and quickest way to provide financial support to countries that are going to be in very great difficulty". He had also mentioned the creation of a "rapid credit line" within the IMF.
See the communiqué of the Saudi Presidency of the 'G20 Finance': https://bit.ly/3aA7ZNl (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)